We Live to Build

You Don't Know Why Your Customers Are Really Buying From You. In this interview, RevHeat founder and CEO Ken Lundin argues that most founders, even those at $200 million companies, are clueless about why their customers truly buy from them . He explains that founders often think customers are buying features (like a report with four colors), but for any high-ticket item, the real reason is much de...

Is Your Business Just a High-Paying Job You Can't Sell? In this interview, M&A expert Cameron Bishop explains the critical difference between a valuable, transferable company and a "lifestyle business" that is almost solely dependent on the owner for its success and has no real exit value. Cameron also shares the craziest story he's ever seen in an acquisition: a former owner who came back and...

Stop Selling to the Masses, Sell to Rich People Instead. In this interview, Startups.com Chief Strategy Officer Ed Kang shares his #1 lesson for e-commerce success: stop trying to sell to the "mediocre middle" and instead focus on getting your product into the hands of "rich early adopters". He argues that wealthy people are the best evangelists, and getting one influential person to talk about yo...

Saahil Mehta is the Co-Founder of Resnet World, which helps businesses increase profitability. Your Pitch Deck Is Garbage if You Don't Have a 'Why'. In this interview, angel investor Saahil Mehta shares the story of tearing apart a friend's pitch deck because it was all "what" and "how" but completely missed the founder's "why" . He explains that investors want to see the founder's personal story...

Jeff Sauer is the Co-Founder of MeasureU.com, which helps brands better understand the data which runs their business. The 3-Year Process of Prepping an Agency For a Private Equity Sale. In this interview, agency founder and angel investor Jeff Sauer details the three-year journey of preparing his $7.5M/year marketing agency for an exit . He explains the critical shift from a high-growth, low-prof...

You Need a CFO Before You've Made a Mess. In this interview, fractional CFO for SaaS Brands, Anthony Nitsos explains why startups should bring in financial expertise early. He warns that waiting until you're bigger means a new CFO will have to "clean up a mess" that has been created, which is always more expensive than setting up your accounting and finance correctly from the beginning. Anthony al...

How We Raised $4.2 Million With No Product. In this interview, Thesys co-founder Rabi Guha explains how he and his co-founder successfully raised a $4.2 million seed round in just three months with only an idea. He reveals the two critical factors for their success: a strong founder-market fit from years of industry experience, and a powerful network that provided the "warm intros" that VCs priori...

Your Company's Data Is Garbage (And It Will Kill Your AI). In this interview, Pipeliner CRM's Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer, John Golden, gives a stark warning to founders: the biggest challenge for companies implementing AI is data integrity. He argues that "most companies' data is not clean. It's garbage," and that even the best AI will fail if it's fed bad data ("garbage in, garbage ou...

Your 30-Page Pitch Deck Is Getting Deleted Immediately. In this interview, investor Almaz Edilbaev, Founder of chAngels, a Chicago based Angel Syndicate, gives a brutally honest look at how he evaluates startups. He explains why a 30-page deck or a long email is an instant red flag, and reveals that an experienced investor can decide if your company is worth a deeper look in 30 seconds or less by...

You're Building Your Advisory Board All Wrong. In this interview, Breen Sullivan, founder of The Fourth Effect, explains that most early-stage founders don't understand the difference between a governing board and an advisory board, how to compensate advisors, or what they should even be getting from them . She argues that the primary purpose of an advisory board for a pre-seed or seed-stage start...

Letting Go of My Failed Startup, My Failed Marriage, and This Podcast. In this final episode, I've decided to end the We Live to Build podcast after four years and 215 other episodes. I feel the show is holding me back, forcing me to stay connected to my past, my failed marriage, and my failed software company. To move on from the anxiety and panic attacks, I have to let it go. I'm also letting go...

Why Your Sales Leads "Disappear" (And Why It's Your Fault) . In this episode, executive coach Jeffrey Klubeck gives a masterclass on a common frustration for entrepreneurs: leads that express interest and then ghost. He explains that you can't be frustrated by someone "disappearing" if they never truly "appeared" in the first place , and argues that the fault often lies in not having a proper pre-...

My Corporate Job Paid Me to Be a Functioning Alcoholic. In this interview, agency founder Skip Wilson shares his raw story of working in the corporate world, where entertaining clients was a primary responsibility. He explains how, as a quiet and stoic person, he spent a decade "on the verge of tipsy" because drinking was an occupational necessity to be more social and talkative. Skip also details...

The Future of Manufacturing Is a 'Lights Out' Factory. In this interview, Director of Industrial AI Bryan Debois describes the "panacea" for modern manufacturing: a "lights out" factory where raw materials enter and finished goods leave with very little human interaction, powered entirely by AI and autonomy. Bryan also discusses the current crisis facing US manufacturing, including a half-million-...

How One Unchecked Spam Folder Almost Cost Me $150,000. In this interview, Forte Consulting co-founder Hope Timberlake shares the "effing scary" wake-up call she received after an unfiled 401k form, lost in her spam folder, triggered a potential IRS penalty of $500 per day. She explains how this one administrative oversight could have cost her nearly $150,000 and the valuable lessons it taught her...

I Turned Down a Job That Would Have Made Me $50 Million. In this interview, serial entrepreneur Rom Lakritz shares the story of turning down a co-CEO role at an early-stage startup that is now pre-IPO—a decision that cost him a potential $50 million payday. He discusses the psychology behind making such a high-stakes choice and why he doesn't regret it. Rom, who has sold a company, taken another p...

Your Comfort Zone Is a Coffin. In this interview, serial entrepreneur Jason Todd shares his core philosophy that "fear guards the gateway to your growth". He argues that if you're not doing something that scares you, you're not trying hard enough, and that staying comfortable is a recipe for stagnation. Jason, who built and sold a $100 million e-commerce company, also reveals his most expensive, r...

Your Anxiety Is Pointing You in the Right Direction. In this interview, multi-seven-figure entrepreneur Ray Blakney shares his powerful philosophy that stress and anxiety are the best guideposts for growth. He argues that the things that make you scared are the exact things you need to do, and that successful people aren't without fear—they just walk through it anyway. Ray also shares the raw stor...

Your LinkedIn Sales Pitch Makes Me Angry. In this interview, startup agency founder Loretta Markevics gives her unfiltered opinion on the thousands of automated, "cutesy" sales messages flooding executive inboxes. She explains why deceptive lead generation tactics make her "angry," why she's "very, very pro directness," and why your cold outreach is probably a waste of her time. Loretta also share...

My Opioid Addiction Led to a $60 Million/Year Company. In this incredibly raw interview, Jeff Sekinger shares his harrowing six-year battle with opioid addiction that began with a Percocet prescription for a high school football injury. He details hitting rock bottom—racking up over $80,000 in debt, isolating himself from family and friends, and feeling completely hopeless. The turning point came...

Why Your One-Person Marketing Team Is Set Up to Fail. In this interview, Kaitlyn Merola, Founder and CEO of Mōve Marketing, breaks down one of the most common mistakes startups make: hiring a single "marketing generalist" and expecting them to be an expert in everything. She explains why this is an unfair strategy that sets both the employee and the company up for failure. Kaitlyn also shares her...

The "Anchor Pricing" Trick That Manipulates Your Clients' Choice. In this interview, Jarrod Lopiccolo, an architect-turned-CEO, breaks down the powerful psychological strategy of anchor pricing. He explains how presenting three options—a high "anchor" price, a low price, and a middle price—manipulates customers into almost always choosing the middle option, and how you can apply this to your own b...

Why a Four-Year College Degree Is a Waste of Money. In this interview, Donald Booth, Founder & CEO of the American Institute of Non-Destructive Testing, makes the case for why skilled trades are a smarter path than a traditional four-year degree. He explains why Gen Z is becoming the "tool belt generation" and points out that only 40% of college graduates are even working in their field of stu...

The Franchise Model That Opened 950 Stores in 13 Years. In this interview, Chief Development Officer Lyle Myers breaks down the exact franchise model his partners used to scale their previous brand, The Joint Chiropractic, to 950 locations in just 13 years. He reveals their "regional developer" strategy, which empowers partners to build and support their own territories in exchange for a share of...

How a Bad CEO Hire at Boeing Led to 300 Deaths. In this interview, Tom Verboven, a senior director who assesses executive talent for Fortune 500 companies, uses the tragic case of Boeing to illustrate the life-or-death stakes of leadership selection. He explains how hiring a CEO who didn't embrace the company's "safety first" culture resulted in catastrophic quality issues, hundreds of deaths, and...